Stirling County v Plymouth Albion match report

The Pool 4 table in this seasons British & Irish Cup makes pleasant reading for Albion fans with the club sitting top after beating Stirling County in a highly entertaining game.

The Albion players had to set their alarm clocks for 4am in order to be at Exeter airport for a 7am flight to Edinburgh.

It took Albion a while to get the journey out of their legs but once the pack started to get on top there was only ever going to be one winner.

Albion had the bonus point in the bag shortly after half time and their six tries were scored by six different players.

The one downside for Albion was the sight of influential No 8 Herbie Stupple leaving the field on the half hour with a recurrence of his ankle injury making him doubtful for next weekends trip to Jersey.

Albion head coach James Shanahan reflecting on the performance said “I’m very pleased with the bonus point and the six tries particularly after the 4am start this morning. The weather conditions weren’t great but we had a strong set piece and an excellent kick chase game today.

“For the third game in a row we conceded under 10 penalties and there were no yellow cards today. That alone is very pleasing.

“We struggled a bit in the line out early on but that improved, and once again the bench made an impact when they came on.”

Albion made eight changes to the side that defeated Nottingham in the opening round of the B & I Cup.